Hurricane Katia (Hurricane Challenge)
Hurricane Katia is the strongest landfalling tropical cyclone on record in terms of 1-minute sustained winds, tied with Typhoon Haiyan and Typhoon Meranti. Katia is also the third-strongest tropical cyclone in the north atlantic basin terms of pressure, only behind Hurricane Wilma. Katia was also the 5th most costliest atlantic hurricane on record. (I'd assume that Katia absorbed Irma, the 5th costliest atlantic storm in real life) Meteorological History A group of severe thunderstorms formed off the coast of Mexico on September 3. The wave quickly organized, becoming Tropical Depression Thirteen on September 5. Instead of moving towards Mexico, Thirteen went away from Mexico, most likely due to the interaction with Hurricane Irma, and also becoming Tropical Storm Katia on September 6. At that time, the NHC forecasters predicted that Katia will quickly be absorbed by the outflow of Irma due to high wind shear produced by Irma despite the SSTs are almost 31 degrees high. However, they were wrong. Late on September 6, Katia showed signs of further strengthening such as cloud-like eye formed, as, surprisingly, the wind shear was lower than expectations. This caused Katia to become a hurricane early on September 8, and even further strengthening into a major hurricane as it approached Cuba, bringing winds up to 110 km/h and over 40mm of severe rainfall. As wind shear began to increase, Katia weakened as it approached Cuba, weakening back into a minimal hurricane before landfall on late September 8. Katia then went to the Caribbean Sea. With favourable conditions available, Katia was able to intensify into a Category 4 hurricane, even unexpectedly absorbed Irma, most likely due to large outflow of Katia, even though Irma was stronger than Katia at the time. Katia made landfall on Jamaica at September 10, but that did not affect Katia at all. Katia became a Category 5 shortly after exiting Jamaica on September 11, and also moving slowly at the same time, bringing severe rain and winds to nearby areas, as it moved towards the border of Honduras and Nicaragua. On September 12, favourable conditions showed Katia as a potential record breaker, as stated by the NHC. Both Honduras and Nicaragua started to take their preparations seriously. By September 13, Katia even reached below 900 mbar in terms of pressure, which only 5 storms previously had reached lower in the atlantic basin. By noon the same day, Katia had winds up to 315 km/h and 894 mbar, and was expected to landfall tomorrow morning, as it reached its peak intensity. Late on September 13, strong winds and heavy rains started to affect nearby areas. NHC also noted that Katia could possibly break Wilma's record in terms of pressure. At that time, Katia had reached a pressure of 889 mbar with its wind speed not changing, as it moved southeast towards Honduras and Nicaragua. Midday on September 14, Katia made landfall at Honduras while maintaining 315 km/h winds and 893 mbar pressure, causing chaotic damage in both Honduras and Nicaragua, especially in areas near the coastline. It quickly weakened into a remnant low on September 15, also completely dissipating the next day as the structer basically disappeared. Impact Katia was often considered ‘The Monster’ due to its extreme intensity and the powerfulness of it. Katia dealt 31.3 billion dollars of damage in Honduras alone, along with 8.2 billion dollars of damage in Nicaragua, also with 5 billion dollars of damage in Cuba and Jamaica. It is expected to see the affect of Katia long-term. In Honduras, still over 100,000 homes don’t have electricity because of Katia, and still over 50,000 people lost their homes and not yet displaced. As of July 16, 2018, 2,317 people have been confirmed dead by Katia, with 74 still missing, which their bodies are roughly predicted to have floated out into the ocean as most of the missing bodies’ families live very near the coast. Retirement Due to the chaotic and unrevertable damages caused by Katia, the name Katia has been take of the list on 2023. Katherine will replace Katia in 2023. Category:Hurricane Challenge Category:Bluetiger0824’s pages